Alphabet's self-driving car unit, Waymo, has received approval to join Ontario's automated vehicle pilot program, marking its expansion into Canada. The company will begin by testing its self-driving vehicles on the streets of Toronto.
Waymo will first manually drive its vehicles in Toronto to develop high-definition maps of the local street networks. Following this, autonomous vehicles will be tested on public roads, initially with a human safety operator present.
The company's co-CEO, Tekedra Mawakana, stated that this move into Canada is a significant milestone in Waymo's global expansion. Toronto is noted as potentially the most wintry city Waymo has attempted to operate in, which will test its autonomous vehicle technology.
As part of its expansion strategy, Waymo is partnering with Element Fleet Management, a Toronto-based company. This partnership is expected to support hundreds of jobs in areas such as fleet maintenance, validation driving, customer service, and operations.